Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Le Cordon Bleu - Instruction #4

The students of Basic Cuisine have begun to find a groove.

The locker-room debacle has been figured out. Changing is taking half the time that it once used to.

By now we have all “personalized” our equipment in one way or another – eliminating those awkward conversations of, “Is this yours?”

And. Of course. We have all developed a much more efficient way of taking and keeping our notes. Fewer pens and tasting spoons are dropped during instruction. And there are no longer last minute runs to lockers to retrieve a forgotten item.

Yes, the students of Basic Cuisine have begun to find a groove. I suspect that our “efficiency” will continue to improve.
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Bright and early at 8:30 a.m. Chef Thivet greeted our class in the ground floor demonstration room.

Today we would stretch a bit to the other side – the side of pastry (well, dough).

In the coolest of manners Chef Thivet glided us through our instruction. Plopping small stories here and there about the ingredients we were using, his grandmother’s cooking, or something about geography.

Most of us - Carolyn, Bruna, and me included– were a bit sleepy, but we pulled through.

With tomorrow being the first graded practical, some of us plan on practicing tonight. Smart move.

Instruction #4 – Commonly Used Dough

  • Savory Yeast Dough: Onion Tart with Anchovies and Olives

This is what we need to make in tomorrow’s practical. It was delicious. With a bit of practice tonight, I should have it down.


As do professional bakers, we only use fresh yeast.


  • Fresh Pasta Dough
The trick with fresh pasta is to sprinkle with starch for the last run through the pasta roller. This will help dry out the dough more than regular flour.

  • Spinach Stuffed Cannelloni with Tomato Sauce

I mean...do I need to even tell you that this was divine?!!?

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